A Disney blooded, crafty, fun-lovin' wife/mom/organizer/planner, etc who is obsessed with all things Disney 🙂 Maria grew up with the Magic Kingdom and has loved watching WDW evolve into what it is today. A firm believer in the Power of Pixie Dust, she is the owner of The Disney Driven Life - A Community for Neurotic Disney People & a d.i.y. crafty blog, Carousel of Projects - create~inspire~share.

Melinda R., NDM 539 , grew up watching anything and everything Disney. But once she was an adult, she knew she needed more than that. Her passion for keeping Disney in her life led her to start her own business being a personal shopper. Being it is the Halloween season, I asked Melinda to share a few photos of holiday merchandise from the park! What makes you an NDP? Have a story to share? Have your own Disney Fan Site or Podcast you want to share with the community? Send it to ndm130 AT thedisneydrivenlife DOT com. We just might feature your story here on Sharing Saturdays.

My name is Melinda Redman and I am a neurotic Disney mom! Now that we have gotten that out of the way .. let me tell you a little about how my obsession with all things Disney began.

When I was a kid, my mom took me to every Disney movie when it was released in theaters. Being a single mother, she couldn’t take me on a lot of trips or vacations, so she always built up the excitement for the release of the new animated Disney feature, which usually happened in the summer. We also looked forward to watching the Christmas parade on TV each year. When I was about six or seven years old, Michael Jackson appeared on the Walt Disney World Christmas parade to promote Captain EO. That was it that’s all it took for me to be hooked on WDW. Even though we couldn’t afford to go, we watched every show imaginable about WDW. As I faithfully watched “Disney World Inside Out” each week, all the specials on the Disney Channel and the Travel Channel, it became my passion to learn all I could since I couldn’t go myself.

When I was 19, my mom fell and broke her arm. As a result, she won a settlement that gave us just enough extra money to visit WDW for the first time. It was the 25th anniversary and the castle was decorated to look like a birthday cake. I fell in love! From then on, I made it a point to save enough money to come back every 2 to 3 years. I dreamed about getting a job at Walt Disney World and going to work each day at the Happiest Place on Earth! But, one thing or another always came up that kept me from moving. My health took a turn for the worse and I ended up on disability and unable to work a full time job. I questioned how to have Disney in my life every day and still be able to do it on my time and when my health allows. That’s when I decided to create a home business as a Walt Disney World personal shopper. In visiting the theme parks many times, I always ran out of money or space in the car before I got everything I wanted. I used to say, “I wish I could come back and get it next week” or even next month, but who can drive a thousand miles to do that? I always wished they had a catalog and I could mail order it. I realized there were probably lots of others that felt the same way. In wanting to keep Disney in my life and help others, I created my very own business! My husband and decided we wanted to move to Florida anyway, so it worked out perfectly.

My business, “Your Personal Pixie” , is found on Facebook. I am hoping to expand to Twitter, and eventually create a separate web page soon. We offer customers the ability to get anything they would like from the Disney parks, shipped directly to your home. Disney offers new merchandise constantly, so I am always updating new photos of merchandise that is available. By doing this, I can send a little magic home to you while getting the chance to live Disney everyday. What could be better?

With Halloween merchandise available now and Christmas is right around the corner, please let me know if you are in need of the perfect gift for that neurotic Disney fan on your shopping list!

Maria H. (ndm#130)

A Disney blooded, crafty, fun-lovin' wife/mom/organizer/planner, etc who is obsessed with all things Disney :) Maria grew up with the Magic Kingdom and has loved watching WDW evolve into what it is today. A firm believer in the Power of Pixie Dust, she is the owner of The Disney Driven Life - A Community for Neurotic Disney People & a d.i.y. crafty blog, Carousel of Projects - create~inspire~share.